It may be desirable to environmentally isolate various spaces from one another in order to provide for flame, smoke or other particulate isolation. For example, within an aircraft fuselage, the passenger compartment may be environmentally isolated from the cargo compartment so as to provide smoke or flame isolation, thereby reducing smoke or flame dispersion within the fuselage of the aircraft. Within an aircraft, the environmental isolation of the passenger compartment from the cargo compartment may be complicated by the cabin pressure differences between the passenger compartment and the cargo compartment. In this regard, some aircraft include a frame or other structural member positioned between the cargo compartment and the passenger compartment for supporting a barrier that extends between the compartments. As the frame or other structural members must be capable of carrying the loads created by the differential pressure between the passenger compartment and the cargo compartment under normal operating conditions, the frame or other structural members may be structurally substantial, thereby adding to the cost and weight of the aircraft.
In addition to compensating for pressure variations between the passenger compartment and the cargo compartment, environmental isolation techniques must also account for rapid decompression events and, as such, aircraft may include integral decompression panels. The pressure differential at which the integral decompression panels are caused to open may be dependent on friction which may, in turn, vary over time and from installation to installation, such as in response to material properties, material incompatibilities, dirt, debris or the like.